People moves: Ireland’s Pensions Authority names chair

The Pensions Authority – The minister for social protection, Dara Calleary, has announced Fiona Tierney as incoming chair of the Pensions Authority for a five-year term.

Tierney will take over from David Begg, who has been chair since January 2016.

Tierney brings extensive strategic and corporate governance expertise to the role. She is an experienced and professionally qualified chair and non-executive director, with multi-sectoral board experience from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. She has significant experience in oversight, remediation and compliance in regulated industries.

From December 2019 to November 2025, Tierney was a member of the Top Level Appointments Committee, and was appointed by the Irish government as a founding member of Balance for Better Business from July 2018 to December 2023.

People’s Partnership – Jason Whyte has been appointed as its new strategy director to help the master trust drive towards becoming a world-class asset owner.

Whyte will be responsible for developing the organisation’s long-term strategy as People’s Partnership continues its rapid growth in the UK workplace pensions arena.

Whyte joins from PA Consulting, where he was head of life and pensions, and brings more than 30 years of experience in financial services, including as a consultant to the life and pensions industries in the UK and overseas.

minPension – Cecilia Rosendahl Lavén has left the Swedish pensions portal, where she has been chief executive officer since November 2023, after an agreement with the board about the service’s future.

minPension, a not-for-profit organisation funded by Swedish pension providers and the government, said in a statement: “The board of directors of minPension and CEO Cecilia Rosendahl Lavén have jointly concluded that a change of leadership is the best for minPension’s future development in the next few years.”

Christina Lindenius, minPension chair and CEO of pensions and insurance industry association Insurance Sweden, said the service needed to be constantly developed in line with pension savers’ expectations and rapid digital development.

minPension said the process of recruiting a replacement for Rosendahl Lavén had begun, and that in the meantime, deputy CEO Johan Hellman had been appointed acting CEO.

Before coming to minPension, Rosendahl Lavén worked at pension provider AMF for nearly 24 years, latterly as head of marketing and communications.

PFZW – Joanne Kellermann will quit as president of PFZW, the €251bn Dutch pension scheme for workers in the healthcare sector, as of 1 July 2026, one year before the end of her second term.

“As the transition to the new pension system has now all but been completed, this is a logical moment for me to take a step back,” commented Kellermann. “I quit a bit earlier than the end of my second term, but after seven tough years, I need a bit more breathing space in my personal life,” she added.

Speaking to IPE’s sister publication Pensioen Pro in a podcast in February, Kellermann said she is not yet ready to retire, and would like to remain active in the pension sector.

Before serving as PFZW president, she was an executive board member at the Dutch central bank DNB.

Isio – The consultancy has appointed Kevin Howard as partner and head of pensions administration, as the firm continues to invest in scaling its pensions administration business and enhancing its capabilities.

Isio’s pensions administration practice provides end-to-end administration services to pension schemes, supporting trustees and sponsors with high-quality member-focused, technology-enabled solutions. The business is a key part of Isio’s growth strategy, with continued investment in people, processes, and platforms to deliver improved outcomes for clients.

Howard brings more than 30 years of experience in regulated financial services, operations, and transformation. He joins from WTW, where he spent almost eight years in senior leadership roles, most recently as managing director and head of outsourcing GB, with responsibility for leading and growing its pensions administration business.

Jupiter Fund Management – Nathan Bostock has formally assumed the role of chair, having joined Jupiter’s board as a non-executive director and chair designate last month.

Bostock’s appointment marks the next step in Jupiter’s board succession process and follows David Cruickshank’s retirement from the board after a formal handover period.

As chair, Bostock will be responsible for leading Jupiter’s board, ensuring strong governance, and supporting the group’s long-term strategic direction. He brings deep leadership experience across financial services, with a career spanning banking, risk, and broader financial markets. He was previously CEO of Santander UK from 2014 to 2022 and global head of investment platforms at Grupo Santander until his retirement in 2023. He currently also serves as a non-executive director of Lloyds Banking Group and Centrica.

Robeco – The firm has strengthened its sales team by appointing Amr Albialy as head of EMEA and North America institutional, and Frank Groven as head of global financial institutions, a new role within Robeco’s Wholesale domain.

These two senior leadership appointments within the sales and marketing domain will be effective from 1 April 2026.

Albialy has held the position of head of institutional sales for EMEA and North America on an interim basis since September 2025. Based in Dubai, he will also remain responsible for leading the Middle East and Central Asia sales business. He joined Robeco in 2011 as head of sales Middle East business, later becoming regional head institutional sales Middle East and Central Asia.

Groven will become responsible for leading and expanding Robeco’s commercial relationships with global financial institutions, accelerating the development of the global wholesale distribution strategy. He currently serves as head of wholesale Belgium and Luxemburg (BeLux) and has been with Robeco for over 18 years, initially joining as client portfolio manager fixed income.

WTW – Gareth Strange has been appointed as head of the consultancy’s outsourcing business in Great Britain, which includes responsibility for WTW’s pensions administration business.

In this role, Strange will be responsible for shaping WTW’s outsourcing strategy in Great Britain, focusing on developing new offerings and supporting strong outcomes for pension schemes and their members. He will also play a central role in how the business responds to technology-led change, reflecting his digital-first approach to service design and delivery.

WTW’s Great Britain outsourcing business manages the pensions administration for more than three million pension scheme members. Strange brings nearly 25 years of experience at WTW across pensions, retirement and outsourcing, with a career that has spanned both client delivery and commercial leadership.

Partners Group – Pete Zippelius has been named as co-head of the firm’s private equity health and life vertical. He will be based at Partners Group’s US headquarters and will join the firm in September 2026.

Zippelius will co-lead the private equity health and life vertical alongside Benjamin Breier, who joined the firm in 2022. In this role, Zippelius will be responsible for originating, underwriting, and executing new investments, as well as overseeing transformational value creation initiatives across the firm’s health and life portfolio.

Before joining Partners Group, Zippelius spent over two decades in private equity and investment banking roles. Most recently, he was investment partner and member of the investment committee and operating committee at Leonard Green & Partners where he led and managed $8bn of equity investments in the healthcare and life sciences industry across large-cap, middle-market, structured equity, debt, and secondaries strategies.

Fidelity International – The asset manager has appointed Rita Pfahls as the new institutional and pension client specialist in Germany.

In her new role, Pfahls will focus on further developing bespoke investment and risk management concepts. She will also manage institutional mandates while working with institutional investors and pension funds in Germany.

Pfahls joins from Indigo Headhunters, where she worked as a partner advising institutional clients and financial service providers on recruiting strategies, market trends, and leading executive search projects.

Pensionskasse Post – The CHF16.5bn (€17.9bn) pension fund for the employees of the national postal service in Switzerland, Swiss Post, has named Petra Arnold Schlüssel as the new managing director, effective 1 August.

Schlüssel succeeds Françoise Bruderer, who led Pensionskasse Post since 2007.

Schlüssel has been working as a management consultant for occupational pension schemes since 2019, most recently at Weibel Hess & Partner. She is president and member of the board of trustees of the occupational pension provider Sammelstiftung Vita, and a member of the foundation’s investment committee.

Just Group – Following the acquisition of Just Group by Brookfield Wealth Solutions (BWS), the firm announced its new board of directors, with John Hastings-Bass stepping down as group chair to be succeeded by Nigel Wilson.

Last summer, the boards of directors of Just Group and BWS announced that they had reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer to be made by Bidco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BWS, to acquire Just Group. The acquisition has now been concluded.

Independent Governance Group (IGG) – The provider of professional pensions trusteeship, governance and communication services has announced 22 promotions across the business, reflecting continued growth in demand for high-quality governance services.

Chris Alford, Luke Tutt and Maria Keen have been promoted to trustee director roles, recognising their leadership, expertise, and growing portfolios of scheme appointments.

Alford is part of IGG’s covenant and restructuring centre of excellence. He has more than 15 years of experience, including roles advising trustees and corporates on covenant matters at a global accountancy firm, as well as 8 years at The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

Tutt, meanwhile, has a background in pensions administration, with his current role including leading IGG’s Pensions Dashboard working group. He works with both co-trustee and professional corporate sole trustee (PCST) clients, as well as leading on various outsourced governance appointments.

Keen has more than 20 years of experience, including significant scheme secretarial and governance experience. She is also a member of IGG’s Risk Transfer Centre of Excellence.

In addition, Chris Tabersham has been promoted to associate director. Annette Balcombe, Carolyn Ealand, Mariarosa Rossi and Richard Haslam have all been promoted to trustee manager roles.

The promotions, effective from 1 April, also include six other staff members promoted to senior associate roles. Additionally, Craig Barth has been promoted to manager (funding and investment), reflecting IGG’s continued investment in developing expertise across the business.

Other promotions include senior and associate consultant roles, as well as executive assistant roles Across IGG’s central services.

Hymans Robertson Foundation – Paul Waters has been appointed as the foundation’s new chair.

Waters is head of DC markets at Hymans Robertson, having joined the firm in 2005 and, in his new role, he will act as a key bridge between the foundation and the firm, helping its work to deliver lasting impact for disadvantaged young people and communities throughout the UK.

Waters is currently the foundation’s vice chair and will take over the role from Gill Tait, who is retiring and has been involved since the foundation’s inception.

The foundation was established in 2016 by the consultancy with the aim to support young people and communities across the UK, through long‑term partnerships with a trusted network of charities. It receives a proportion of the firm’s annual profits as it continues to deliver lasting impact for disadvantaged young people and communities across the UK.